This application is based on and incorporates herein by reference Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-106405 filed on Apr. 4, 2001.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air passage opening and closing system, which is particularly suitable for use in a vehicle air conditioning system, for opening and closing an air passage by moving a film member (film door) across the air passage.
2. Description of Related Art
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-2238 discloses an air passage opening and closing system for opening and closing an air passage by moving a film member across the air passage. In this system, a drive shaft and a driven shaft are supported in an air-conditioning case in a rotatable manner. Opposite ends of the flexible film member, such as a resin film, are connected to the drive shaft and the driven shaft, respectively. Furthermore, pulleys are coaxially connected to one end of the drive shaft and one end of the driven shaft, respectively, on the same lateral side. Ends of a wire are wound around the pulleys, respectively, to synchronize the rotation of the drive shaft with the rotation of the driven shaft. Furthermore, a motor is connected to the drive shaft to rotate the drive shaft.
When the drive shaft is rotated in a winding direction for winding the film member around the drive shaft, the film member is directly wound around the drive shaft to move the film member. On the other hand, when the drive shaft is rotated in an unwinding direction opposite to the winding direction, the rotation of the drive shaft is transmitted to the driven shaft through the pulleys and the wire. Thus, the driven shaft is rotated to wind the film member around the driven shaft to move the film member.
By moving the film member in the air-conditioning case forward and backward, the air passage is opened and closed.
In the above system, the ends of the film member are connected to the drive shaft and the driven shaft, respectively, to wind the film member. Thus, the drive shaft and the driven shaft need to be synchronized with respect to one another. As a result, the synchronizing mechanism, which includes the pulleys and the wire, is required. This causes an increase in a number of components of the system, which in turn results in a tedious time consuming assembling work and an increase in manufacturing costs.
The present invention addresses the above disadvantages. Thus, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a simplified air passage opening and closing system by eliminating a winding mechanism for winding a film member, which opens and closes at least one air passage in the air passage opening and closing system. It is another objective of the present invention to achieve an effective opening and closing operation of the air passage. It is a further objective of the present invention to improve positioning accuracy of the film member in the opening and closing operation of the air passage by the film member. It is a further objective of the present invention to provide an air-conditioning system of a vehicle having the simplified air passage opening and closing system.
To achieve the objectives of the present invention, there is provided an air passage opening and closing system including a case, a film member, at least one reinforcing member, a drive means for reciprocating the film member in first and second directions, and at least one positioning means for positioning the film member at a predetermined position. The case forms at least one air passage. The film member is reciprocable in the first and second directions in the case and has opposite first and second free ends. The film member opens and closes the at least one air passage depending on its position relative to the at least one air passage. The at least one reinforcing member is secured to the film member to provide additional strength to the film member. The at least one positioning means is arranged stationary relative to the case. When the film member is moved in one of the first and second directions, the at least one reinforcing member abuts against the at least one positioning means to position the film member at the predetermined position.
To achieve the objective of the present invention, there is alternatively provided an air passage opening and closing system including a case, a film member, at least one drive gear, a drive means for rotating the at least one drive gear, and at least one reinforcing member. The case forms at least one air passage. The film member is reciprocable in first and second directions in the case and has opposite first and second free ends. The film member opens and closes the at least one air passage depending on its position relative to the at least one air passage and includes at least one set of gear engaging portions. The gear engaging portions of the film member are arranged at substantially equal intervals in a direction parallel to the first and second directions. The at least one drive gear has a plurality of gear teeth, which are meshed with the at least one set of the gear engaging portions of the film member to reciprocate the film member. The at least one reinforcing member is secured to the film member between the at least one set of the gear engaging portions and one of the first and second free ends to provide additional strength to the film member. When the film member is moved in one of the first and second directions, at least one of the teeth of the at least one drive gear is securely engaged with the at least one reinforcing member to position the film member at a predetermined position.
To achieve the objectives of the present invention, there is also provided an air-conditioning system of a vehicle including one of the above air passage opening and closing systems.